First road bike

[broady]

I got into cycling just before summer doing 15+ miles where before the rides were few and far between and never above 15 miles.
I've got a Specialzed sirrus hybrid bike, but the other people I often ride with have road bikes.
I then got a single speed with drop down bars and after initially hating it am starting to like it. But I do need gears on the hilly routes so have just picked up a cheap secondhand viking xrr to give a road bike a try.

I see a lot of comments about people saying that cheap bikes just put people off and also the bike snobs (they don't bother me as its all I can afford).

Will this bike give road bike riding a fair chance?

 

[TissoT]

I would say a lower end road bike will be ok for short distances...
As your distances increase you may find you will need to invest in a better spec of a Road bike
enjoy your cycling

 

[G3CWI]

I see a lot of comments about people saying that cheap bikes just put people off

You can get a perfectly good road bike for around £300.

 

[cyberknight]

You can get a perfectly good road bike for around £300.

its the triban 3 again
I rode many a mile on a carrera virtuoso , cracking bike for the price as well.

 

[tjones]

I found my cheep Chinese mountain bike fine for the first few months. One day I was out on my bike in another town and decided to call in a bike shop I was passing. Tried a low to mid ranged price bike and noticed a nice difference in ride quality. Ended up buying the bike, a few weeks later I went out on my cheep bike again it was only then I really appreciated the difference.

There are some good second hand bikes for sale, no need to break the bank. I personally bought a second hand road bike for less than a new cheep road bike. There are a lot of good bikes from the last millennium kicking around.

I am not that cash rich and do not do credit so will probably end up buying a second hand fixie over Christmas as I do not have the spare cash for a new one

 

[Kevoffthetee]

£500 gets you a good frame with some lower end, but good quality components eg cube peleton, giant defy, felt f85 to name a few

 

[Sharky]

On your single speed, just swap the rear cog / freewheel to give you a lower gear to make it easier on the hills.

What chainring / sprocket size do you currently have? I use 44 * 17 and get up most hills and can still hit 32mph going down hill. A new sprocket will be a lot cheaper than a new bike!

Cheers keith

 

[mrbikerboy73]

I rode many a mile on a carrera virtuoso , cracking bike for the price as well.

Me too and thoroughly enjoyed it as well.

 

[sreten]

Hi,

Live and learn but the Viking won't get anywhere near a Triban 3.

My bike is a £125 Tesco special near identical to a £250 Viking in a LBS.

Unsurprisingly neither are remotely near the Triban 3 in quality,
and IMO the £250 Viking is just ripping off the clueless punter,
£50 more gives you a just vastly superior real road bike.

rgds, sreten.

A used (but not much at all) Triban 3 is the best cheap road bike.

 

[Peteaud]

This

http://www.merlincycles.com/merlin-performance-road-pr7-bike-73113.html

I think its stunning value.

 

[Nigelnaturist]

Hi,

Live and learn but the Viking won't get anywhere near a Triban 3.

My bike is a £125 Tesco special near identical to a £250 Viking in a LBS.

Unsurprisingly neither are remotely near the Triban 3 in quality,
and IMO the £250 Viking is just ripping off the clueless punter,
£50 more gives you a just vastly superior real road bike.

rgds, sreten.

A used (but not much at all) Triban 3 is the best cheap road bike.

You not seen my Viking then, 105 Kitted with a Spa 50/38/26 chainset and a rear 105 12-27, and Yesterday totted up 16,000 miles, ok its not fast, but I can hold my own on some strava segments with bikes costing £3000, not on the hills though due to the weight but thats as much down to the kit I carry which can make the whole bike weigh upto 15-16Kg but more nrmally 12.5-13.5Kgs, this year its had the new 105Kit the new chainset and new wheels, so basically all new running gear, and I am happy on up to 100Km, I think the weight starts to take its toll there, I ride every 2 to 3 days, this year has been down on last year due to illness, but I have still managed 4,200 miles this year.

 

[cyberknight]

This

http://www.merlincycles.com/merlin-performance-road-pr7-bike-73113.html

I think its stunning value.

Thats a cracking bike, beats anything in the price bracket imho .The wheels came on my boardman wich was nearly 3 times the price .

 

[Peteaud]

Thats a cracking bike, beats anything in the price bracket imho .The wheels came on my boardman wich was nearly 3 times the price .

I am amazed that Merlin don,t push their bikes harder.

I have used them a few times and they have a very good reputation, but their own bikes lack advertising.

Even the carbon one looks good value, and they have another for £275

http://www.merlincycles.com/merlin-s2200-road-bike-55807.html

 

[iggibizzle]

My 1st road bike in summer when I decided I had enough of cars, and mtb's , was a Viking xrr. Was good for a couple months of daily use and a couple of 40+km rides. But then spokes started to snap. And then more and more. Other than that it was decent. So some better wheels on it would make it ok for zipping about. Suppose it depends how heavy and fast you are. I still actually have it but it's just been demoted to 3rd choice.

 

[Nigelnaturist]

My 1st road bike in summer when I decided I had enough of cars, and mtb's , was a Viking xrr. Was good for a couple months of daily use and a couple of 40+km rides. But then spokes started to snap. And then more and more. Other than that it was decent. So some better wheels on it would make it ok for zipping about. Suppose it depends how heavy and fast you are. I still actually have it but it's just been demoted to 3rd choice.

Yea my original Weinmen wheels were naff, first spoke broke in two weeks, then when I started again 4 years later in 2012, they just kept popping every 2-4 weeks had enough after about 10, and got some RS10's and only one went in 7,000 miles but a week or so after fitting it I discovered a crack in the rear rim, planet-x exchanged them for the current RS11's, though a rear one did go, but I think this was due to having hit a stone a few weeks early that actually put a dent in the rim.